hello,
can someone here give me a good routine for m1a cleaning? I have on that is a match rifle and not supposed to be taken out of the stock (very much). I have another on the way. I am thinking bore snake for the bore and some wipes for the action, but what about that gas piston and cylinder? Anyone have experience with this?

Sodbuster

July 5, 2010, 04:30 PM

...

dvdcrr

July 5, 2010, 05:30 PM

....-..--.

alloy

July 5, 2010, 05:55 PM

I run the piston dry, drill the carbon out of the piston and gas plug once in a while, everything else gets a liberal amount of axle grease. Flared out .40 case for the bolt roller. Toothbrush for the bolt, Sweets 7.62 copper solvent in the barrel. Axle grease on the gas plug threads and trigger group pins and associated movements.

Most likely I'm doing it all wrong.:D

the rifleer

July 5, 2010, 06:00 PM

As long as you keep it regularly maintained it will do just fine. Every couple hundred rounds tear it apart and clean it out really well and oil it and it will never have a problem and will serve you for years to come. It semi auto, so it is more important to keep properly maintained than a bolt gun. I recommend at the very least wiping it down and running a couple patches with oil on them down the barrel and clean out the reciever the best you can, then after about 300 to 500 rounds take it apart and clean it really well.

Its Morse Code. Morris is the cat from the old 9 Lives commercials. I don't think he made up any codes.

madcratebuilder

July 6, 2010, 11:00 AM

Everything you need to know about the M14 is here.

http://www.m14tfl.com/upload/

pythagorean

July 6, 2010, 12:04 PM

Accuracy will suffer each time the glass bedded M1-A Match rifle is separated from the stock. That's just the way it is, but if you are shooting a LOT this has to be done on occasion.
I had the Match Rifle that cost over 2 Grand a decade ago. The stock was adjustable in the butt plate as well as the cheek piece. I was not a Match competitor and preferred to end up with a sort of standard M1-A (eventually it became the SOCOM 16) that would fulfill my dreams of owning and shooting (often) the M1-A.
I'd treat a Match M1-A the way the instructions say, don't strip it down more than what needs to be done to keep the gas operation and action clean. Use a bore snake.

azredhawk44

July 6, 2010, 12:42 PM

If you FAIL to disassemble and properly lube your rifle, it will BREAK.

Just because you got one that is glass-bedded doesn't give you an excuse to neglect its maintenance. The bedding will wear out from disassembly, but you still have to do it.

Once every year or two you will have to pay someone to rebed it, depending on your shooting and cleaning frequency.

Take the trigger guard out, remove the receiver from the stock, take the op rod off the bolt. Clean the powder blow-back off the bolt, maybe disassemble the bolt once a year (only if you know how... that bolt can literally kill you if taken apart wrong and the firing pin shoots out into your eye socket). Re-lube the bolt roller and corresponding cavity in the op rod. Lube the op rod tab. Wipe down the op rod, op rod spring, op rod spring guide with an oily rag.

Clean its guts, lungs and heart. Or it'll die.

I tell you this out of my own experiences with a bedded stock. I broke my bolt roller from neglecting to break down the rifle and lube it.

I'll never have a high maintenance safe queen M14 stock again. My replacement stock is every bit as accurate (sub-MOA from a bench), but can be disassembled and reassembled for regular maintenance with no loss of accuracy.

pythagorean

July 6, 2010, 12:49 PM

what azred44hawk said, except it "breaking." The way to break a rifle (any) is to swing it like a golf club at a concrete skyscraper.
I will never own another "M1-A Match Rifle" again.
But the SOCOM 16 has found a place in my place.
http://i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr145/whitehouse_2008/Centerfire%20Rifle/Assualt%20Rilfes/PB010590.jpg